KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Developers said they want to turn the Bannister Mall from what they say is an "awful, scary place" into a regional showcase, including a soccer stadium and new stores.

Wednesday, developers formally pitched their plan to the city's tax increment finance commission.

"People feel viscerally that there's something not good about Bannister, and we've got to overcome this feeling," attorney for the developer Aaron March said.

The plans call for a soccer stadium for the Kansas City Wizards, 12 tournament fields and new stores and offices to surround.

Developers pitched the plan to the TIF commission because they want $267 million to help tear down the old Bannister Mall and replace it with the stadium and complex.

Wizards co-owner Cliff Illig said it's the way to make soccer grow.

"The NFL did not take off as the most popular sport until it started to be played in football-specific stadiums," Illig said.

The Wizards will put in $65 million into the stadium and the fields. Developers want to use 65 percent of the tax money they're after in the first phase.

Some neighborhood leaders object, saying they want Bannister reopened as an affordable community mall.

"Black economic development is finally starting to take place in our community, and nothing helps a business get off the ground more than cheap rent," Richard Tolbert said.

There will be a public hearing on the soccer stadium and complex plan next month.